Why did Mormons first institute polygamy?
Church founder, Joseph Smith, said he received a revelation from God, which is still canonized Mormon scripture as Doctrine and Covenants Section 132. In the revelation, the Lord commands him to take virgins “an hundredfold in this world” for the purpose to “multiply and replenish the Earth” so “they may bear the souls of men.” This was the only published reason Joseph Smith ever gave for the Mormon practice of polygamy.
